GPT-5.6 Luna vs GPT-5.6 Terra

GPT-5.6 Luna and GPT-5.6 Terra are both current openai production-tier models. GPT-5.6 Luna is meaningfully cheaper at $1 / $6 per 1M. GPT-5.6 Terra leads on coding, reasoning, general knowledge.

Specs side by side

Metric
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Luna
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Terra
Input price (per 1M)$1$2.5
Output price (per 1M)$6$15
Context window1.1M tokens1.1M tokens
Speed tierfastbalanced
Open weightsNoNo
EU regionYesYes
Free tierNoNo
Prompt cachingYesYes
Vision inputYesYes
Extended thinkingYesYes

When to choose each

OpenAI

Choose GPT-5.6 Luna if…

  • Cost is a priority ($1 / $6 per 1M vs $2.5 / $15 per 1M)
OpenAI

Choose GPT-5.6 Terra if…

  • Coding is central to your workload
  • Reasoning is central to your workload

Benchmark delta

GPT-5.6 Luna leads on

GPT-5.6 Luna has no meaningful benchmark lead in this pair.

GPT-5.6 Terra leads on

  • Coding
  • Reasoning
  • General knowledge
  • Instruction following
  • Multilingual
  • Vision
  • Tool use

FAQ — GPT-5.6 Luna vs GPT-5.6 Terra

GPT-5.6 Luna vs GPT-5.6 Terra — which is better?

GPT-5.6 Luna and GPT-5.6 Terra are both current openai production-tier models. GPT-5.6 Luna is meaningfully cheaper at $1 / $6 per 1M. GPT-5.6 Terra leads on coding, reasoning, general knowledge. The right pick depends on your use case — see "When to choose each" above for a data-driven decision.

How does GPT-5.6 Luna pricing compare to GPT-5.6 Terra?

GPT-5.6 Luna costs $1 / $6 per 1M vs GPT-5.6 Terra at $2.5 / $15 per 1M. GPT-5.6 Luna is cheaper on output tokens by roughly 150%. Both support prompt caching, which reduces effective cost by 80-90% on repeat system prompts.

Does GPT-5.6 Luna or GPT-5.6 Terra have the bigger context window?

GPT-5.6 Terra has a 1.1M-token context window — 1× the 1.1M context of GPT-5.6 Luna. Enough for entire codebases, books, or multi-document RAG.

Is there a free tier for GPT-5.6 Luna or GPT-5.6 Terra?

GPT-5.6 Luna: no — Low-cost at $1/$6 per 1M; starter credits only. GPT-5.6 Terra: no — Free $5 credit for new accounts; paid thereafter.

Which is better for coding — GPT-5.6 Luna or GPT-5.6 Terra?

GPT-5.6 Terra leads on coding benchmarks (GPT-5.6 Luna: 85/100, GPT-5.6 Terra: 93/100). For production coding agents also weigh tool-use performance — GPT-5.6 Luna scores 87, GPT-5.6 Terra scores 93.